#CookWithNeff event with Neff & Currys

Before I jetted off to Greece last week, I popped down the road to Neff HQ in Milton Keynes (which is quite literally minutes away from my house!) to spend the day with Joes Bloggers, Neff and Curry’s for the #CookWithNeff event. Neff make ovens and kitchen appliances, notably the wondrous Slide and Hide ovens you see every Wednesday evening on a certain baking programme! There were around thirty bloggers there, all ready to try their hand at cooking some fantastic food with Neff. Just a quick warning – this post is full of food porn. So much good looking food, I’m not sure if you can handle it … If you’d like to carry on reading I won’t take any responsibility for inducing drooling or hunger pangs. Also, nice shiny ovens alert. Foodies, be prepared.

After a coffee and a quick introduction to the brand, the team at Neff quickly set us on cooking a feast for lunch. I paired up with Emma from Essays and Wine and we got cooking asparagus and salmon tarts. They started off pretty horrendously but we pulled it off in true bake off style and they turned out pretty scrummy! These went in the oven with the vegetarian tarts and a batch of scones. Baffled? I was too but we didn’t end up with fishy scones because of the way that Neff’s ovens work – the air is circulated and drawn backwards, so not only can you cook all types of food together, but the door doesn’t get grubby. Magic! I never thought I’d get so excited about ovens, but the Slide and Hide doors are something to be excited about!

I also got the best job of the day, dipping the strawberries and marshmallows in melted chocolate. When I melt chocolate at home, I use a bain-marie (bowl over a pan of boiling water!) but with Neff’s induction hobs, you can melt the chocolate straight in the pan and then keep it at a low temperature to stop it from solidifying. More cooking magic.

As I mentioned before, lunch was an absolute feast! Each small group of bloggers had cooked up different parts of the ‘menu’ to provide us with a large table full of food. Everything was cooked to perfection using the Neff hobs and ovens, including a selection of grilled veggies on the induction hobs. The team explained how Neff ovens don’t need preheating and because of the air circulation, you can cook a whole meal in there. Neff’s recent campaign is all about showing what people can cook with their appliances rather than just marketing them as an every day oven. I mean, I definitely want a swish oven if it makes me cook this good!

I’d explain all the food in depth, but I think I’ll let the photos do the talking. Here’s what we lunched on: Wild Boar patties and flatbreads; Smoked salmon and asparagus tartlets; Caramelised onion and goats cheese tartlets; Giant Cous Cous salad and Green salad; Grilled vegatables; Vegatarian tart. Dessert consisted of my excellent chocolatier skills as you can see!

After being suitably fed and watered, we had another session all about bread. Rather fittingly, as it had been bread week on GBBO! We were shown how Neff ovens help you prove the dough, allowing it to rise ready for baking. On GBBO they use a warming drawer which can be included with the ovens to prove bread dough as well as keeping food or plates warm as you cook a meal. One of the breads we were shown was a gorgeous looking tear and share bread with parma ham and mozerella in the middle. Simply roll out the dough, sprinkle the fillings in the middle and roll. Chop into bits, pop in a round tin, prove then bake. Voilà! It looked and smelt amazing. I can vouch for it tasting incredible too! Neff ovens also have a nifty little feature that helps you get that super crispy crust; a small dip in the bottom of the oven can be used to pop a bit of water in to steam the loaf to help the bread get it’s crust. No more soggy bottoms!

After a bread session, we were treated to more food. We tried the bread and had the scones that were baked earlier with a cuppa. A perfect end to a rather lovely day with some great company. A big thank you to Joes Bloggers and Currys for hosting the event and of course Neff for the inspiration! I can’t wait to give some of the recipes a go and it’s certainly got me excited about ovens.